To Find Warmth
by midnight-blue
Summary: [FourSarah universe] Landing on a planet with an unexplained water shortage and mysterious deaths leads to some latent revelations for the Doctor and Sarah


**Title**: To Find Warmth

**Author**: Kristin

**Rating:** G

**Pairing:** Four/Sarah universe

**Summary**: Landing on a planet with an unexplained water shortage and mysterious deaths leads to some latent revelations for the Doctor and Sarah

**Notes**: Nothing overtly romantic, but hints of it at the very end. Apart from that, it's just a hasty little Four/Sarah adventure!

* * *

Sarah mused that lately, in regards to weather, they were at either extreme: intense heat or intense chill. How nice it would be to land on a planet with a moderate climate. How nice it would be, really, to land on Earth: to decompress, to recall normalcy.

But there was a balance, a give and take, and she pursed her lips as she resigned to her current surroundings. The Doctor was ahead of her, clutching a handful of dirt and letting it slide between his fingers as he examined it closely.

"Sarah, I believe the earth of this planet is in desperate need of water."

He stood, brushing the dirt from his hands and laying his left hand against his side as he used his right to shield his eyes from the intense sun and gain a view of the landscape ahead of them.

"I know how it feels," she muttered, pulling at her shirt to fan the skin of her neck.

He regarded her now, watching as she wiped at the sweat rapidly collecting above her brow.

"Feeling repressed by the sun?"

"Oh, a bit."

"Nonsense, you're fine."

"Doctor, I don't pretend to understand your internal thermostat, but speaking for my species, I'm quite sure if I stayed out here long enough I could melt."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her with him as he walked towards the village he'd spotted in the near distance.

"From a physiological standpoint, Sarah, that would be quite impossible, but intensely interesting to observe, were it feasible."

"I'll do my best, Doctor," she joked.

Appraising his apparent nonchalance, she couldn't help but think others might have felt his behavior to be off-putting, but as he loosely held her wrist, guiding her along, she thought, _How could I not travel with him?_

After they had walked a bit, Sarah stopped, feeling as though her limbs had gotten heavier with the increased ardor of walking in extreme heat. Luckily, she'd put a tank top on beneath her heavier shirt, thinking they'd be near a beach, as the Doctor had said. She pulled off the shirt which had been exacerbating the heat's intensity, and rubbed her hair back, her hands slick with sweat.

"That's the problem with heat: I can't very well take my skin off."

"Well, you certainly are one for the abstracts today, Sarah Jane. But I must admit, it is a bit warm on this planet."

"Don't overdo it now, Doctor," she teased, noting that he had at least taken off his scarf and coat, but still wore his long-sleeved shirt and vest, not to mention those pants. She felt even warmer just looking at him.

He came closer to her, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"You know, it would be quite interesting to observe your internal structure, absent skin," he smiled widely.

"Yes, I rather think I'd have a fetching musculoskeletal system," she said bemusedly.

The Doctor came closer, his eyes narrowing slightly and losing a minute amount of their easy light as he took in her appearance. She had been sweating profusely, but it seemed to have tapered off, and he didn't like the flush to her cheeks. He took her chin in his hand, examining her face briefly, then stepping away from her to look into the distance.

"We must get you to some water."

By the time they reached the consolidated village, Sarah was leaning nearly all of her weight into the Doctor, who supported her clumsily with one hand tightly on her elbow, the other loosely around her fingers.

The village consisted of numerous tiny huts and the Doctor thought it quite wise to gain the attention of a woman with an apron, hunched over what appeared to be the central water pump, though he hoped faintly that these people were not wanting that seriously for liquids, given the heat.

"I say, could you spare a cup for my friend here? She's rather wilted."

Sarah gave him a sharp look, which he met with a quick, toothy grin as he guided her to partial recumbency upon a protruding rock. He kept a hand on her shoulder as he waited for the apparently hesitant village woman to respond. The lady had paused at his words, ceasing the flow of water into her own bucket and regarding him, and Sarah, skeptically.

"I'm terribly sorry to bother you like this, but you see--"

"Where did you come from?" the woman questioned.

"Well, we're travelers, and we unintentionally deviated from our programmed destination, landing here, uh, where _is_ here, exactly?"

"Derma. You picked a fine time to come, too. We're in the middle of a drought, we're rationing water. A cup I give her could be a cup less for my family. Why should I help you?"

The Doctor's thumb and pointer finger tightened, pressing faintly harder into her shoulder.

"I hadn't realized the gravity of my request, madam. If you could perhaps point us to someone we might be able to speak with in regards to the allocation of water for my friend?"

The woman stared at the two of them for a few seconds more, absorbing the growing droop of Sarah's shoulders and the position the Doctor had taken over her willowy form. She proceeded to pump again, dipping a deep ladle into the bucket and handing it wordlessly to the Doctor, who took it rather anxiously.

He knelt next to Sarah, brushing a few strands of hair away from her mouth and slowly pouring the liquid past her lips, quietly instructing her to swallow it slowly. After Sarah had emptied the ladle of water, the Doctor returned it to the woman, attempting to thank her, but growing silent as she forcefully waved her hand at him, dismissing any acknowledgement of her action.

The Doctor helped Sarah up, silently keeping a few fingers at her wrist as he took stock of their situation.

"Is she all right?" the woman asked, not looking up from her task.

The Doctor, still glancing around the village, replied, "Fine. Is there anyone in authority we might be able to speak with?"

The woman pointed to a larger hut across from them.

"Mayor Stafran."

The Doctor nodded his gratitude, tugging Sarah along with him.

"Doctor, might I ask why we don't just go back to the TARDIS?"

He tipped the brim of his hat up with his thumb, looking at Sarah sharply.

"Sarah, these people are in the middle of a drought, and I would venture their plight could be easily tempered were they to install an irrigation system."

"And you're going to enlighten them."

"Of course. If they were aware of the resources available to them by simply travelling beyond that mountain, they would doubtless be grateful for the deluge which would thereafter eliminate their water shortage."

Sarah furrowed her brow, swiping her hand at her still-warm skin, and shrugging nonchalantly.

"I'll just follow you then."

TBC


End file.
